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#26
04/11/2007, 03:00 PM
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there anr NO saltwater fish store's in brookfield! the closest one is in waukesha which is 20 mins from where we are located. Hoffers is in the ghetto!!! and far drive from brookfield. Wouldn't it be nice to have something in brookfield Not the surrounding area's. TAKE THAT ONE TO HEART
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#27
04/11/2007, 03:25 PM
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haha, hes right tho.
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#29
04/11/2007, 06:16 PM
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Aqua UV is good.
Best selling fish are the basics (clowns, chromis, cardinals, gobies) and the stuff you never see elsewhere (rare stuff). You may have some fish a day, you might have some a year. Factor in losses. Also figure that wholesalers will not hook you up with premium stuff unless you are placing sizeable orders weekly. Is this going to be at someones house? Hours or by appointment? A central system is ideal. I look at the holding systems of those opposed to them and see more disease than ever in mine. Plan on medications, preventative and otherwise.
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Get over the watts per gallon rule. If that held true I could easily keep a clam in a 10 gal with a 100w incandescent bulb. |
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#30
04/11/2007, 06:30 PM
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you've also got to think about how much you're going to have to markup fish in order to turn a profit. If you're going to be competing with established LFS in the area for customers to buy your fish your prices will need to be around the same amount if not cheaper. That's when you run into problems b/c, more than likely, they're placing larger wholesale orders and therefore getting better wholesale prices for livestock than a smaller operation such as your potential one.
I live in Denton, Texas, which is roughly 10 minutes from the closest LFS, but when I'm out to buy a coral or fish I'll often drive 45-1 hour to a fish store in the middle of Dallas b/c of selection and quality. If there are several fish stores within 10 to 15 minutes of your area I fail to see the advantage in a hobbiest buying from a home business when they could go to a store unless your product is superior, i.e. cheaper or healthier livestock. IMO that is why you don't see more smaller operations like you're talking about. If you are going to do a maintenance business out of your home that is definitely something feasible if the other LFS aren't already doing it or aren't doing a good job. If they are you have to keep in mind that they will probably have covered most of the market for tank maintenance in your area. How much experience do the both of you have in saltwater? From your name it's apparent that one of you doesn't have a tank. Do you have a truck or van to transport water, supplies, etc for maintenance? Do you know where to get food grade barrels etc. for the water? I only ask b/c it will be important to clients that you know what you are doing and the best way for them to know that is to look at your experience. It is definitely a worthwhile thing to consider but, like others have said, make sure you take all these types of things into account before jumping in.
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Ben Hegi |
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#31
04/12/2007, 08:16 AM
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Quote:
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#32
04/12/2007, 09:58 PM
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ok now really this "business" is going to be run out of a house not a store. second its illegal to sell out of a house, the only way to do it is to form a fish club and include the fish with the membership fee. my friend just posted this thread to see if the plumbing idea was a good idea not to have all these nasty comments about running a business. i don't really for running a "business" but really just supplying fellow friends with fish when they join the local fish club. now for theh***** i don't really appreciate your comments for all i care you can die and go to hell so **** you and everything that has to do with you!!!!!!!!!!! no more business it was a bad idea and a waste of time!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!.
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#33
04/12/2007, 10:24 PM
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If I had a set up like you pictured(or use a couple of big tanks), I would place the tanks by the window and grow cheato and other different macro algaes, and sell/ship to everyone in USA. Grows fast, no restocking costs, use sunlight for lighting. Sell the stuff on ebay, work from home is OK, no tax id.(you should still report personal gains/income) Your friends that join can get free cheato for their fuges.
Then you can throw in some xenia, microstars, pods(they'll multiply quickly) and your cheato could be a great seller and make you some cash! |
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#34
04/12/2007, 10:45 PM
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Yeah good plan! But do people want Algaes? I always hear people are trying to get rid of it hah. Is that stuff like Hair Algae?
Where doing fish only, our other member is doing coral! |
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#35
04/12/2007, 11:40 PM
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People buy chaeto (algea) like its goin out of style... |
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#36
04/12/2007, 11:48 PM
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I agree with other posts. Where I live in Sac there are a ton of SW fish stores that are very close...but because of traffic they are 20 min away and I think nothing of it.
I'm not saying your idea wont work but you have to give customers a reason to buy from you. You need to be able to cross-sell other items. You might have 90% of what a customer is looking for but if they know somewhere else has everything they need in one trip guess where they're likely to go? Bottom line: You need to think bigger!
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Brian |
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#38
04/13/2007, 12:01 AM
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 Maybe if you live in a middle class white bread suburb like Brookfield.Anyhow, you've made it pretty clear that you guys are a little green under the gills to jump into this type of business. Get some more experience and knowledge, get some clients for a service business, and once you've had that running well for a while with happy customers consider expanding. Furthermore, your attitude almost assures that you're not ready to own a business. If you're going to do this you're going to need to learn to roll with the punches a little better. |
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#39
04/13/2007, 01:37 AM
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Before you build, buy, or start anything, check on:
USDA regulations / inspections / licensure Business permits / licensure Federal / State Tax ID Local Zoning Board requirements Liability insurance Different areas have different requirements. Guy
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Guy Smilie |
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#40
04/13/2007, 02:57 AM
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Lol. This will crash real fast.
However, tips for you since i did this a little while ago. You need a business license. No matter what anyone says, if you sell something and have the intention to turn a profit on it, its a business and you need the license. Its usually a 50$ fee. Aquarius77 is right. You dont seem like you care or respect any of the insight or suggestions people are offering, and you will lose customers and your reputation will go down quickly with an attitude like you have expressed so far. A homebased business is ALL about word of mouth and references. If you upset one customer, they tell someone, and then they tell someone... etc. You have to rectify every situation as it comes to satisfy the customer. Will you be able to compete with only 6 20 gallon tanks? My guess is not in any effective way. LFS usually build on reputations. Most likely you wont find a wholesaler to ship you the small quantities you can hold. Being a wholesaler, i would not ship 1 box to anyone. i have a 4 box minimum (most wholesaler will set a minimum box order or money order). 4 boxes is anywhere from 15-40 fish... 6 20 gallons wont be able to hold that without crashing the system.... Goodluck if you go through with it. Do it right the first time, and think everything through.
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"we are not here, we are the imagionations of ourselves" |
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#41
04/13/2007, 05:14 AM
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And I also agree with the others as far as the traveling goes. In my Metro area, there are 4 reputable LFSs, and I visit them all often. The furthest one away is about an hour, and I won't even hesitate to make that drive for the goodies that sit there waiting!
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"DON'T @#!$% WITH THE JESUS!!!" ---The Big Lebowski--- |
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#44
04/13/2007, 08:03 AM
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#45
04/13/2007, 12:23 PM
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The other one that gets me are the people that live in Mequon, Whitefish Bay, and Brookfield think they live in this high class suburb with loads of money. Unless you're living in River Hills you're poor compared to many other parts of the country. Last edited by Peter Eichler; 04/13/2007 at 12:33 PM. |
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#46
04/13/2007, 12:39 PM
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There are several different stores I frequent based on what they have to offer. I'll drive an hour to Gerbers in Dayton as they are a wholesaler open to the public, have a huge selection, and have fair prices. And they always have macro/inverts I can't find other places. I'll go to a place called Aquatics & Exotics if I'm looking for something less common... the list goes on. It's not all about convenience though, I don't want to walk into a shack or somebody's home to shop for aquatics. Then again, there are all types of clients, but if after going to this new place a couple times without being impressed, I would probably never return.
The important thing IMO is making a first impression. It's going to be tough to beat the prices of some of the more established stores - you should probably have something to offer that those other stores don't.
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Cincinnati? Where's that? :D |
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#47
04/13/2007, 12:40 PM
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I was just trying to offer some food for thought. Were you irritated because you hadn't realized how much thought has to go into a successful business and felt the need to lash out at those who were trying to help you? Why do you think thousands of small business do not exist 1 year after they first begin? If you don't have a solid foundation of knowledge going into it you will never succeed, and your attitude could use some work as well.
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Ben Hegi |
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#48
04/13/2007, 12:51 PM
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I'm not sure what you're talking about when you say Hoffer's is in the ghetto. I've been there many times, and am more than happy to drive the 25 minutes to get there. I'd be more worried about going downtown than to Hoffer's.
You also need to watch your tone, for moderators do preside over these forums. And we don't take kindly to verbal lashings for giving advice on what you asked for. If you wanted advice on plumbing, you should've asked for exactly that. Not business advice. We're more than happy to help, but you won't make many friends with verbal abuse. 
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